Indonesia – Day 0ne

I think that day one was a success. The plane didn’t crash on the trip from Perth to Denpasar, which meant that the fear of flying that I had built up over the last 4 years was quickly dissipated.

I arrived in Bali at a little after 1.30pm. Bali and Perth is the same time so there was no inconvenient changes to the clocks.

It was a surprisingly quick journey through immigration, just on half an hour, so I called my friend Evi and let her know that I was already through.

My biggest concern with the Indonesia Imigrasi was the fact that I was carrying medicines. I had a note from my doctor just to be sure but it was still a worry at the back of my mind. As it happened, I needn’t have worried as I passed through the declaration counter with not a problem.

I had lunch at a cafe at the airport with Evi and Juliana, which was really pleasant. We laughed and joked like old friends, which due to the wonders of IRC, I guess we are.

The flight from Denpasar to Jakarta was due to depart at 6.10pm, however it was delayed, along with all the others.
Four years ago our domestic flight from Mataram in Lombok was delayed and from what I gather, it’s a fairly common occurrence.

I have heard bad things about the airline that I was flying with on that first domestic leg. First from an Indonesian friend in Perth, and then from my friend in Jakarta. I think I can see the point too. I was sitting at by the emergency exit door when it started making a high pitched, and very loud howl.

Apparently it was something to do with the air pressure, the member of the cabin crew reassured me, and I guess the door didn’t fly open and suck us out to our death…

Surprisingly, I didn’t regain the fear of flying again!

I met my friend Lenda in Jakarta. The original plan was for her to pick me up from the airport and then take me to my hotel, however she got stuck in one of those traffic jams that Jakarta is notorious for, so I was met at the gate by one of her friends.

He drove me to a mall where we had our dinner before Len took me to my hotel.

Due to my incredibly tight finances I had asked her to find me a cheap hotel or a losman, which she did. Pulling into the hotel, the car-park attendant assumed that she was a hooker, and then the porter, on showing me to my room asked if I needed a girl.

Just in case I changed my mind in the 4 minutes that he was with me, he asked again on his departure. I actually find that very amusing!